Farm-gate



' (N0 MOdeL) N HORN.

FARM GATE.

No. 474,426. Patented May 10;"189-2.

ll ll llllll llllj l "i 4 i i lllNiTED STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

GEORGE VAN HORN, OF \VALLIS RUN, PENNSYLVANIA.

FARM-GATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 474,426, dated May 10,1892.

Application filed July 6,1891. Serial No. 398,626. (No model.)

T 60% whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE VAN HORN, a citizen of theUnited States,residing at WVallis Run, in the county of Lycoming and State ofPennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Farm-Gate, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of swinging gates which are used forcarriage-ways and opened by means of overhanging, ropes adapted to bepulled by the occupant of the carriage without alighting therefrom.

My object is to provide more simple, cheap, durable, effective, andbetter working mechanism for accomplishing this purpose than hashitherto been conceived.

Having this object in contemplation, my invention consists in thepeculiar features and combinations of parts more fully describedhereinafter, and pointed out in the claim.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a perspective view ofmy invention as seen from the rear of the gate; Fig. 2, a view of thelatch-keepers on the fence-post; Fig. 3, a detail view of the adjustingmechanism for the upper hinge; Fig. 4, a detail side view of theconnecting-link for the doublelatching device 5 and Fig. 5, a view ofthelower hinge, forming the pivot.

The gate proper a swings between vertical posts I) and 0, located onopposite sides of the roadway. The rear end bar 61 of the gate isprovided with a rearward extension cl, on the outer end of which rests acounter-balance e for the purpose of balancing the outer end of the gatein the usual manner.

The gate is hung upon a hingef and pivot g. The pivot g, which forms thelower hinge, consists of a bar having oppositely-extending points g,connected bya transverse neck g". The points enter the vertical bard andbearing cl" at the bottom of the post I). The upper hinge f consists ofa horizontal eyebolt f, which passes through the gate-bar d, and the endopposite the eye f" is provided with a thread f and nutf, by which meansthe bolt is made adjustable lengthwise. The opposite bolt h is providedwith a vertical pin h, which enters the eye f and forms the up perpivotal point. This bolt h isadj ustable longitudinally by means of athread h" throughout its length and the nuts h and h' on opposite sidesof the post I). These two nuts serve to lock the bolts against endwiseplay in either direction. The entire weight of the gate rests on thepivot g, and by adjusting the pivotal point at the top of the post I),so that its axis will be out of line with the axis of the lower pivot,or, in other words,off center, the gate will swing by its own gravity toright or left.

Side posts 4;, provided with overhanging armsj, form stops for the freeend of the gate when it is thrown open. The means for opening andclosing the gate when thushung consists of a pair ofoppositely-extending ropes 11', the inner ends of which ropes arefastened to the free end of a pair of cross-levers n a, hinged at 0 to across-bar p on the end of arm d. The outer ends of these ropes extendthrough staples k on the under side of the overhanging armsj of the sideposts 1', and each rope is provided with a pendant m m. The ropes passover anti-friction pulleys p in the opposite ends of the cross-bar p.The latch mechanism is arranged to co-operate with these cross-levers inthe opening and closing operation, and it consists in a horizontal leverq, having one end passing loosely through a pair of staples q on theunderside of the cross-levers m m. This lever q is fulcrumed in a recess1' in bar cl, and its opposite end is pivotally attached to a pair oflinks 8, which have their lower ends pivotally attached to anotherhorizontal lever t, fulcrumed at t in the diagonal brace-bars t. Thefront end of this lever forms the upper latch, and it is connected to alower latch 14 by means of a vertical link 1;. The lower end of the linkfits snugly in an aperture in the lower latch, while the upper end ofthe link passes through an oblong vertical slot win the lever 25', bymeans of which both links are allowed a limited amount of playindependent of each other to facilitate the latching operation, as willbe more carefully described hereinafter.

The keepers a: 00, with which the latches engage, are provided each withbevel-surfaces y y, over which the end of the latches slide. Each keeperis provided with a notch as for the reception of the latches. Eachkeeper is provided with two vertical walls 0' 0', one of WlllCll 0" 1shigher than the other to arrest the latch when moving from left toright. The higher wall of the upper keeper is faced in an oppositedirection to arrest the upper latch when moving from right to left. Thelowerwall c confines the latch within the notch to prevent the gate frombeing tilted and holds it always in rigid vertical position, which wouldnot be the case were each keeper provided with one oppositely-facedwall, as in prior patents of this kind.

Having thus described the preferred construction of my invention, I willnow proceed to set forth its operation.

Assuming that the gate is closed and is approached by a person in avehicle, it can be opened by reaching out of the vehicle and pullingdown on the pendent end of the rope Z, whereupon the free arm of thelever m will be raised, carrying with it the end of the lever q anddepressing the opposite end of the latter. This action pushes down onthe rear end of the lever t, which forms the upper latch and raises itup and out of notch z. The-force of the draft upon the rope, togetherwith the gravity of the gate, causes the latter to swing away from theoperator and against the side post '6. After having passed through theoperator pulls down upon the opposite pendant m, which draws upon theouter end of the cross-bar p and swings the gate back, and as itapproaches the post 0 the latches strike the beveled surfaces of thekeepers so 00' and slide over them. The end of the lower latch to isarrested by the higher face 0" of the lower keeper and stops the gate.In this action it will be seen that if it were not for the verticaloblong slot in the upper latch the lowerlatch would be lifted above thehigher wall of its keeper and the gate would swing past the post insteadof stopping; but the oblong slot permits the upper latch to be liftedhigher than the lower one without carrying the lower one with it,

and it also permits the lower latch to belifted higher than the upperone when the gate moves in the opposite direction, so that the upperlatch will not be raised above the higher wall of the keeper. If thiswere not the case and the latches were raised and lowered an equaldistance, they would pass the keepers instead of engaging with them, andhence it will be seen that this limited independent movement isnecessary.

Among the advantages of this construction might be mentioned the factthat the gate can be easily adjusted to suit any slight change in theposition of the posts, that it can be balanced to any suitable degree,that it can be built at small expense, and its construction is such asto insure strength and durability together with ease of operation. Thedouble locking mechanism keeps its front end in secure position, so thatit cannot be tilted from above or below by hogs or stock of any kind.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

The combination, in a swinging gate, of a rearwardly-extending armprovided with a cross-bar, a pair of cross-levers hinged to the underside of said cross-bar, a lever fulcrumed on the gate and having one endloosely connected with said cross-levers and its opposite end with alink pivotally connected toa lever forming the upper latch, alower latchhaving its free end connected with the upper latch by means of an oblongslot or opening, forming a loose connection, a pair of oppositelyfacedkeepers, and overhanging ropes for actuating the gate and latchmechanism, all arranged and adapted to operate substantially asdescribed.

GEORGE VAN'HORN.

WVitnesses: y

F. P. OUMINGs, WV. M. STEPHENS.

